Isocitrate dehydrogenases (IDHs) catalyze the oxidative decarboxylation of isocitrate to 2-oxoglutarate (i.e., α-ketoglutarate). These enzymes belong to two distinct subclasses, one of which utilizes NAD(+) as the electron acceptor and the other NADP(+). Five isocitrate dehydrogenases have been reported: three NAD(+)-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenases, which localize to the mitochondrial matrix, and two NADP(+)-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenases, one of which is mitochondrial and the other predominantly cytosolic. Each NADP(+)-dependent isozyme is a homodimer.
IDH2 (isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (NADP+), mitochondrial) is also known as IDH; IDP; IDHM; IDPM; ICD-M; or mNADP-IDH. The protein encoded by this gene is the NADP(+)-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase found in the mitochondria. It plays a role in intermediary metabolism and energy production. This protein may tightly associate or interact with the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. Human IDH2 gene encodes a protein of 452 amino acids. The nucleotide and amino acid sequences for IDH2 can be found as GenBank entries NM_002168.2 and NP_002159.2 respectively. The nucleotide and amino acid sequence for human IDH2 are also described in, e.g., Huh et al., Submitted (November-1992) to the EMBL/GenBank/DDBJ databases; and The MGC Project Team, Genome Res. 14:2121-2127 (2004).
Non-mutant, e.g., wild type, IDH2 catalyzes the oxidative decarboxylation of isocitrate to α-ketoglutarate (α-KG) thereby reducing NAD+ (NADP+) to NADH (NADPH), e.g., in the forward reaction:Isocitrate+NAD+(NADP+)→α-KG+CO2+NADH(NADPH)+H+.
It has been discovered that mutations of IDH2 present in certain cancer cells result in a new ability of the enzyme to catalyze the NADPH-dependent reduction of α-ketoglutarate to R(−)-2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG). 2HG is not formed by wild-type IDH2. The production of 2HG is believed to contribute to the formation and progression of cancer (Dang, L et al, Nature 2009, 462:739-44).
The inhibition of mutant IDH2 and its neoactivity is therefore a potential therapeutic treatment for cancer. Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for inhibitors of IDH2 mutants having alpha hydroxyl neoactivity.